Flipped Classroom Assignment: New Link

2013-12-18_2116

P.S. The audio is horrible! Please do not use earphones.

Annotated Bibliography: Repost link

Annotated Bibliography-BMS & Parent/Teach Communication

Just wanted to repost this link in case my previous link doesn't work. Thanks!

Flipped Learning Assignment: SAMR Model

I created this video to introduce the SAMR model to my teachers. I am hoping that this video will inspire them to integrate technology into their teaching. I couldn't get my presentation to load to youtube or Facebook so I'm trying the iCloud link. I've never worked with iCloud before...I hope it works!

Here's the link: https://www.icloud.com/iw/#keynote/BAL340XTmBBS0CyUtWOBEvgfksHmv8L8hpeE/SAMR_Model

Blog #8: Assessment Practices and the Common Core

Links:

Article:

Heritage, M. (2010). Formative assessment and Next-Generation assessment systems: Are we losing an opportunity? Education Week. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/media/formative_assessment_next_generation_heritage.pdf

Sample Assessment Problems:

•  http://www.smarterbalanced.org/sample-items-and-performance-tasks/
• http://sbac.portal.airast.org/practice-test/
• http://www.edu-sources.org/ccss-or-sbac-links...

Early in the first quarter, my math teacher mentioned to me that she was writing standards-based tests according to the Common Core States Standards. We have a rigorous math program that privileges comprehension over rote practice and as such integrates well with CCSS math standards. I thought about the math teacher's assessments for a few days to figure out what was bothering me about her plan. I came to the conclusion that I was uneasy because it felt too much like the old way of doing things. As the math teacher and I discussed things, we agreed that the only way the potential of CCSS could be realized would be to completely change the way we assess. So, we knew that we wanted to avoid teaching to the tests, but we were not sure what to replace that type of teaching and testing with.

This week's links to articles and activities answered, or began to answer, many of the questions that my math teacher and I were left with. The article by Heritage (2010) made me say, "Yes!" It expressed my concerns so much better than I was able to, and it provided a solution to the problem: formative assessments.

Apparently, formative assessment is an educational term that has been around for a while now. However, it has come to mean something different in the United States compared to other countries. Here, it is discussed as a measurement tool whereas in other places it is defined as an active process. The difference between seeing formative assessment as a measurement device rather than a process has greatly affected teaching and learning to the detriment of U.S. students. In places where formative assessment has been integrated into daily teaching and learning, positive outcomes have increased dramatically.

We have just adopted Common Core in the Territory. It would be a shame to undermine our potential for success by neglecting to give teachers the tools they need to transform their classrooms into the learning communities that the CCSS are set up to help us achieve. Training in effective formative assessments could be invaluable.

The other links took us to sample problems from Next-Generation assessments. These would be summative assessments. Summative assessments, though not a valuable teaching tool, can be valuable measurement tools. The new assessments make use of current technology. This has the potential of making the assessments adaptive and it allows students to demonstrate understanding rather than just measuring performance as the old assessments did. 

After reading the article and visiting the sample assessment sites, my head is spinning. How do I train my teachers to incorporate effective formative assessment in their teaching? What do effective formative assessments look like? If teachers use formative assessments in the classroom, how does that get reported? There is so much to think about. But, I am happy to have found that others are concerned that we not undermined CCSS by reverting to our old teaching and assessments.

One of my instructors at ASCC shared a quote with me that I have often reflected on (I'll paraphrase): The person you learn the most from is not someone who teaches you something new, but someone who takes a problem that you've been quietly struggling with and expresses it in such a way that you gain new understanding. I totally did not do that justice, but I hope you get the gist of it because that is how I felt reading Heritages article.

Assigment #10: Create a Website

Link: Ta'iala Teacher Resources

I'm really excited about the website that I have started. The site is a wiki-type collaborative site where my teachers can save and share the resources that they find online. EDCS 480 has opened my eyes to how useful the internet can be in our daily practice. Before this class, I considered the internet to be a useful research tool and a great way to keep in touch with people. How I wish that I had been better informed about the tools available!

As useful as the internet is, however, we all know that being online is like deep space travel: you think you've only been asleep for a few minutes but really, hundreds of years have passed you by. My hope is that the Ta'iala Teacher Resources site will save my teachers valuable time. Instead of spending hours on the internet trying to find something, they can turn to TTR and hopefully find that one of their colleagues has posted what they need.

I realize that it will take a while before the site will have enough on it to make it as valuable as I imagine it becoming, but I can already see it shaping up nicely. I will have my secretaries complete the directory and upload school forms and documents. Just having those things in a central location that the teachers can access at anytime will make a significant difference in our productivity.

I am also hoping that as the teachers add things and use things from the site, it will inspire them to use technology more often.

Go-o-o-o-o Titans!

Annotated Bibliography-BMS & Parent/Teach Communication

Link: Annotated Bibliography-BMS & Parent/Teach Communication

I had a difficult time finding articles that address the use of technology in classroom management. Most of the articles I found were about how to manage the use of technology  in the classroom or how the use of technology (as a teaching/learning tool) affects classroom behavior. This activity helped me realize that we tend to get stuck talking/writing/thinking about things in a certain ways.

Action Research Project Presentation--Fourth and Final?

Melinda explained that the links I gave you previously wouldn't work because they were linked to my computer files and I still had to upload them to the internet. She also suggested that I try uploading to Google Docs. I followed her advice (I didn't even know that Google Docs could handle video clips) and here is the link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwFEGyycZPDrYm9MTEVxMWJKUzg/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you, Melinda, you're the best!

Action Research Project III: The Correct Link?

I'm sorry I wasn't online last night when y'all were trying to access my video. I just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and ended up snoring away on the recliner in my TV room with my laptop perched precariously on my lap.

Here is a link to my video. I hope it works this time! I'm not embedding the link because I think that might have been the problem last night. Please copy and paste this into your browser:

file:///Users/teripeters/Movies/2013-12-09_1556.swf

Thank you! I'll be viewing and commenting on your videos today. I can't wait to see what everyone's been working on this semester.

Action Research Project Presentation II

UPDATE:

So, as soon as I posted my last entry, I double-checked the link to the video...and it didn't work! I almost cried. But, I took a deep breath and tried to find the problem. The problem is that when you click the link, the first "/" gets left out of the address. I tried to fix the link, but blogger keeps excluding the "/".

The Fix:

Please copy and paste this into the address bar: /Users/teripeters/Movies/2013-12-09_1556.swf

Action Research Project Presentation

Today, technology hates me.

I had a lot of fun creating my presentation. I drew all my "slides" and decided to photograph them and then use iMovie to capture the images and narrate them. I decided to use my iPad to take the photos because I don't own a camera and it was too awkward to use the laptop camera. And, I figured it would be easy to transfer the movie from the iPad to the MacBook since they're both Apple products. WRONG! It has taken me 11-1/2 hours to figure out how to post this video. I won't bore you with the details. I'll just say that today, the cost far outweighed the benefits.

Here's the link:

/Users/teripeters/Movies/2013-12-09_1556.swf

And, here are the works cited:

Englehart, J. M. (2012). Five half-truths about classroom management. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 85(2), 70-73. doi:10.1080/00098655.2011.616919

Epstein, J. L. (2010). School/family/community partnerships: Caring for the children we share. Phi Delta Kappan, 92(3), 81-96. Retrieved from http://www.kappanmagazine.org/content/92/3/81.abstract

Assignment #9: Haiku Lesson and Learning Management Systems

This week, we learned to use Haiku Learning, a Learning Management System (LMS). This is not entirely new to us. We have been using Laulima since we started the program. In fact, I was introduced to Laulima in 2010 when I was in the English program at UH-Manoa. However, even though we have been using this tool for a while now, I did not know that it was an LMS.

An LMS is a computer-based tool that integrates lesson planning, assessments, record keeping, class discussion posts, etc. It can be a very useful tool because it keeps the different aspects of teaching in one place. It is also useful to students because again, everything is in one place. If a student loses their homework planner, no biggie, it's on the site. If a student is bursting to share their insights on the reading assignment, they can post their thoughts immediately instead of waiting for their next class session.

Using Haiku was a real joy. Sometimes, the tools we discover take some time and teeth-grinding effort to figure out. Haiku was easy to use. I was able to piece together a lesson for my teachers in less than an hour. I plan to use Haiku to improve our weekly teacher meetings. Just like any other flipped learning class, the teachers will be given links to various media to introduce them to the topic for the week. I am requiring them to post their thoughts to Haiku and to respond to other teachers' posts to help them start thinking about the topic. By the time we meet, they will be ready to discuss the topic in more depth and they will be better prepared for the challenges that I will propose. Because, really, what is the point of teacher improvement if they are not challenged to put their learning into practice.

Check out what I plan to have my teachers do for our first Haikulearning lesson. I can't wait to get my teachers' feedback and see how our weekly teacher meetings improve.

I'm flipping teacher in-service!!!

Assignment: PLN Diagram

Check out my Personal Learning Network Diagram on Popplet!

Blog Post #7: Assessing Internet Resources

Resources:

• "Artificial liver 'could be grown.'" 
• "Mouse with human ear."
• "Vacanti mouse."

This week, we read three online resources treating the same topic, the ear mouse.  Although the articles were about the same topic, they had more differences than similarities.

• Similarities:
• Overall topic
• Basic background information
• Who? Charles Vacanti
• What? Published a paper with colleagues chronicling their success at growing an ear on the back of a mouse
• When? 1997
• Differences:
• Tone.  The "Artificial liver" article had a professional tone, while the "Human ear" article   almost seemed patronizing especially when compared to the "Artificial liver" article.  "Artificial liver" laid out information in a detached manner.  The writer of "Human ear," however, attempts to make the reader believe that he is their friend and only wants to clear things up for them.
• Focus.  
• "Artificial liver" focuses on new research that builds on the ear mouse experiment to grow a human liver
• "Human ear" focuses on disputing the claims of anti-genetic engineering groups
• "Vacanti mouse" is focused on giving very brief descriptions of the term and its background
• Amount of details.  Both "Artificial liver" and "Human ear" have a lot of good details in them.  However, because their focus is different, the details are also different.
• "Artificial liver" details the challenges and responses to challenges of growing a liver.
• "Human ear" defines genetic engineering and describes the ear mouse process to prove that genetic engineering was not a part of it
• Bias.
• "Artificial liver" maintains an unbiased approach throughout the article.  The writer presents the facts without prejudice.  One evidence of this is that the article cites scientists on both ends of the spectrum: those who believe it could work, and those who don't.
• The author of "Human ear," has a definite bias.  His entire purpose is to debunk groups who are against genetic engineering.
• References.  Only the Wikipedia entry included any references to other articles.

Because of its professional tone and its unbiased approach, I believe that "Artificial liver" is the most reliable of the three online articles.  The next step to verifying its accuracy would be to find other articles from reliable sources and compare the information.

*************************************

Well, this is embarrassing!  I just read this article from November Learning about the problem of internet research that students face.  They used the same three articles above to make their point that students do not know how to use the internet to accurately solve complex research problems.  The first thing I noticed immediately was that I missed a lot of the inaccuracies in details between the three articles.  I focused on generalities instead of specifics.  So, that was ding number 1. 

Ding 2 came as a result of my solution to verifying accuracy, namely to do more research.  Wrong!  Well, it's only kind of wrong.  The correct answer is to find primary resources.  So, a more focused research than I had planned.

My third ding is not really a ding but a Duh!  I love advanced settings and I use them all the time. But, I have never used Google's advanced search settings.  I cannot explain that lack, hence the Duh!

Before this activity, I would have classified myself as an advanced researcher.  I now realize that I have a lot to learn.  This is a good thing because, as the November Learning article points out, "We probably would be better off if they (the students) knew that they did not know," an excellent observation that applies to both students and educators.  This activity has also shown me that I cannot assume that any of my teachers have advanced internet research skills.  I plan to have my teachers do a similar activity so that they can gauge their own level of skills and understand the problem students face and the challenge we have as educators to better prepare them for research by developing their ability to focus their research and determine reliability of resources.  The one, two approach that November learning promotes, common sense and Common Core, seems reasonable and manageable.

Once again, the title of my blog proves to be quite apt as I certainly got schooled this week. :)

Blog Post # 6: Flipped Learning

I find the concept of Flipped Learning very exciting.  Done correctly, flipped learning makes students more responsible for their own learning and has the potential to lead to more meaningful classroom discussions and projects.  When I was in college, the classes that I found the most successful were the ones where students came to class prepared to discuss that day's material.  In some of those classes, the professors required us to post questions or thoughts about the material on a classroom board and read other students posts.  That setup caused us to read the material, think about it, write about it, and read what others wrote.  By the time we got to class, we were prepared with our own questions and some answers to questions that had been posted.  I never considered that the same type of approach could be used in middle school classes.  But, why wouldn't it be successful?

Alan November and Brian Mull identified the top five common criticisms of flipped learning as:

• Flipped learning makes the teacher less important.
• Kids don't want to watch boring video lectures at home.
• How do we make flipped learning accessible to all students, including those who do not have access to technology at home?
• Where is the accountability?  How do we know if students are watching the videos?
• Who will make the recordings and how?

November and Mull addressed those concerns clearly and concisely.  I believe that the key to successfully implementing flipped learning is planning.  Administrators need to plan out which class or classes they should ask to kickoff flipped learning.  Teachers need to plan which concepts they want to use flipped learning for  and what resources they will give students to look at or read at home.  Teachers also need to plan for how they will assess student comprehension and whether or not students did the assignment.  Finally, teachers will need to plan what will happen in the classroom to replace lecture time and to reinforce and extend the learning that is happening at home.  

My action research is on flipped learning so I have been thinking about this topic for a few weeks now.  I have decided to start with our 6th-8th math class.  One of my concerns has been how we will make sure that all students can access the videos.  We have decided that we will download the videos to a flashdrive or dvd for students who cannot access the internet at home.  Also, the computer lab will be open after school for an hour for those students who need it.  Another concern is the videos themselves.  I was concerned about having the right equipment to produce the videos and making sure that students will find the videos interesting.  We will try to record our own lectures with the equipment and resources that we have, but we are also searching for appropriate videos online.

I cannot wait to get started.  Flipped learning has the potential to revolutionize learning in exciting ways.

Blog Post #5: Personal Learning Networks

What is a Personal Learning Network? According to this YouTube video, "A PLN is a group of people who will heighten your learning.  They can point you to learning opportunities through sharing resources and experiences, and they can answer your questions."  Networking has always been a valuable tool for educators, but 21st century networking is unlimited in its scope.

This week, our class was pointed to Pinterest and Twitter as PLN tools.  I was surprised! I have accounts for both sites but I rarely accessed either after my initial encounter with them.  Pinterest is fun, but an easy way to get caught in the Internet Black Hole--you get sucked in and end up somewhere entirely unexpected only to realize you've been traveling for way longer than you had planned on.  My experience with Twitter was not pleasant.  I just did not see the point of following everything my friends were eating, watching, or thinking at every moment of their lives.

However, "Five follow-worthy ed-tech Pinterest boards," and "How Twitter can be used as a powerful educational tool," explained how these sites can be used effectively.  Basically, users need to know what they want and how to access that information.  E-school News provides their list of five exceptional ed-tech Pinterest boards.  Starting with one of those boards, I looked at some of the pins and I even re-pinned to my personal board.  Every time I pinned, I was shown another board that pinned the same site, giving me access to another person who has the same interests.  Although I ended up spending more time on Pinterest than I had planned, my browsing was focused and by the time I logged out I had found several sites that I plan to explore in greater detail.

The Twitter article was powerful because of the examples used.  One teacher used Twitter to communicate in real time with people in Egypt during the political uprising a few years ago.  He was even able to arrange a webcast with one of the Tweeters for his class.  Amazing!  Another teacher tweeted real-world math challenges to her students while she was at a baseball game--and her students responded!  Again, amazing!

I am a person who has had little patience with social networking sites.  However, I learned this week that social networks can be valuable when you know how to use them effectively to find what you are looking for.  The Twitter article listed above is the third in a three-part series.  In the first part, the authors warn educators that, "we must prepare our students to make meaning form the overwhelming amount of information at their fingertips." After reading the articles this week, I realize that we educators must ourselves be prepared to make meaning and find value in the informational tools that our at our fingertips.

Blog Post #4: Action Research

What are the benefits of action research?  The article that we read this week lists six benefits of action research. The benefits that I find the most exciting are those that emphasize the personal nature of action research that leads to the empowerment of teachers. Julie Nora's experience with action research demonstrates these benefits. Her state requires students to take a standards-based exam in the 4th, 8th, and 10th grades. As an ESL teacher, the question Nora posed is, "Does the explicit teaching of the NCEE standards enhance ESL student performance?" That's a powerful question! Here the state has introduced a new requirement and instead of jumping on the NCEE standards-wagon, Nora is saying, "Whoa! Is teaching to these standards going to make things better or worse for my students?" Teachers often get swept along in education reforms that get handed down to them by people who are not concerned with the needs of individual classes. Nora demonstrates how a single teacher can effectively stand her ground for herself and for her students.

What experiences do you have conducting research that could help you in this process?Although I have never conducted an action research project, I am a good researcher. I was a Literature major, so I had to write a lot of papers. I know how to gather information, analyze it, and determine whether or not it is useful. My experience with research will help me in the initial stages of action research as I formulate my question and gather data. It will also help me in the end stages as I analyze the results and reflect on what comes next. However, when you write a paper, you are not required to take action. It's the "action" part of action research that my previous experience cannot help me with.

What questions do you have?  For my action research, I have asked the teachers of the 6th-8th Math class and the 2nd/3rd Language Arts class to use flipped classrooms in their instruction. Both classes are using curricula that are teacher-intensive which is fine when you are teaching one grade level but problematic when one teacher is trying to teach 2 or 3 grades during the same period. The problem I am having is, how do I measure the impact that flipped learning makes? What should I measure? How?

Blog Post #3: Integrating Technology in the Classroom

Most middle school educators recognize the need for technology in the classroom. However, administrators look at the problem a little differently. Instead of asking how "I" can integrated technology into the classroom, administrators ask, "How do I encourage and empower our teachers to use technology in the classroom?" Even though our school is a small one and I only have six teachers, I still have six teachers and six classrooms that I worry about. At times, the problem of technology seems impossible to solve. Thankfully, Dr. Puentadura's SAMR Model gives a 4-tier approach to technology in the classroom.

SAMR Model by Dr. Ruben Puentadura

What I like about the model from a teacher's perspective is that even if you find yourself at the Substition level, you can feel good about being on the "map". And, once you know which tier you're on, you can figure out how to achieve the next tier. 

From an administrator's point of view, the model helps me to know where each of my teachers is and it gives me ideas for helping them to climb the model. It also makes me aware of the limitations that my teachers work under due to the lack of technology resources at our school. This awareness can help communication between teachers and admin because I know that I can only expect from them what our resources and the teachers' current abilities allow them to do. For instance, it would be unfair of me to ask that every teacher include a daily blog entry in their classes when we only have three computers. Also, if one of my teachers is at the Substitution level, I can not ask that she immediately structure a project on the Redefinition level.

I plan to help my teachers integrate technology by investing in more technology for our school. As I work on increasing our resources, I will help teachers design technology-rich learning experiences by, (1) introducing the SAMR model and having teachers evaluate which tier they are on; (2) sharing the tools that we have discovered in our class so that teachers can see what is available; (3) subscribe to a select number of premium sites that teachers can use; and, (4)work with teachers on a plan to climb the SAMR model with a goal to cross the median into the Transformation tiers.

Blog Post #2: Digital Citizenship

The question this week is: Why is it important to educate young adolescents about digital citizenship? This is a big question with a lot of different answers. For me, the most important reasons have to do with etiquette, accountability, and safety.

Some of the earliest teaching and learning are about social etiquette. We model "please" and "thank you," we tell them that it isn't nice to hit or push or bite. Children are taught to share and to address adults respectfully. They learn that nobody likes a whiner and the difference between an indoor voice and an outdoor voice. Clearly, etiquette is highly valued in society. Unfortunately, social niceties seem to disappear on the internet. The problem as I see it is that digital etiquette is not taught and reinforced in the same way that social etiquette is. Children are allowed online without digital etiquette instruction and very little supervision. The parent is not there to say, "If you don't have anything nice to post, don't post anything at all," nor to attach any consequence for rude online behavior, "I saw what you posted about Billy and I'm highly disappointed. You need to post an apology and you're grounded from the internet for a whole week." Etiquette is learned--who's teaching it? Why is it important for students to learn digital etiquette? For the same reasons that it is important for them to learn social etiquette.

Accountability is also a learned trait. The problem with accountability is that young adolescents are incapable of understanding fully the long-lasting effects of their choices. Online activity exacerbates the problem because once something is posted online--it is there forever! If a child gets into a fight on the school playground, discipline is meted out, apologies are made and then the incident exists only in the memories of the people who observed the fight. If the fight is recorded and uploaded, then the incident can be recalled at any time and for any reason. It becomes a possible permanent part of the child's identity. Our students do not understand the possible impact that these digital records can have on the perceptions that others have of them for years to come. So, while they are incapable of being fully accountable because they lack the ability to imagine the full consequences, the permanence of the internet makes it impossible for them to escape the consequences of poor choices made in adolescence. Although adolescents need to be educated about online accountability, adults need to figure out how to maintain the same partial-agency that we allow adolescents in the real world.

The same inability that makes it difficult for adolescents to understand the full consequences of their choices also makes it impossible for them to fully comprehend the dangers of the internet. We need to educate them about the dangers, but I don't think education is the full answer because adolescents feel invincible--and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Children need to be aware of the danger, but parents and other adults should have a stronger presence online because we recognize the danger in ways that adolescents just can't.

Writing this entry has made me realize that educating young adolescents about digital citizenship is only part of the answer. We also have to get more adults involved. This is a whole new world. We've got the Pirates and the Pioneers all navigating the same uncharted lands. We have a chance to be Pioneers and lay the foundation of digital society. If we take that chance, we will greatly lessen the harm that can come to our children from digital Pirates.

blog post #1: the more I learn, the less I know...

I learned this week that I am a digital immigrant, not a digital native. Finally! A diagnosis! For years I have wondered what was wrong with me. I have suffered with the following symptoms:

• I prefer phone calls to text messages
• I was Myspace illiterate (back when everyone had myspace)
• I have a facebook account, but I can only stand to check it once or twice a month--all those "friends" make my nervous
• I still own and use a paper phone book 
• I don't twit or tweet because I am incapable of expressing myself in 120 characters or less
• I don't read text-speak
• I don't keep a blog
• I resent that anyone can reach me at any time through my cell phone or email

I have felt like a stranger in a strange country...now I know that I am! 

Seriously, though, the articles and videos that we were assigned opened my eyes to problems that I had not fully considered in the past. I knew that our children were growing up in a world that is markedly different from the one I grew up in, but I didn't consider how those differences affect learning. Nor did I consider the need for teaching methods that are conducive to this new world. 

The question that struck me hardest is, "What does it mean to teach in the 21st century?" I thought I knew, until the slideshow effectively demonstrated that what is needed is an entire re-thinking and re-vamping of both teaching methods and outcomes. 

As I processed what I learned, I began to ask, "How much of this applies to my students?" While the rest of the world may be enjoying their 21st century full-time digital lives, I am not so certain that we in American Samoa are quite there yet. The available technology limits how fully we can live in the digital world--this is true no matter how old you are. So, are our children still considered digital natives? Are they digital immigrants? Perhaps they are part-time natives, like Sherman Alexie's part-time Indian, shuttling back and forth between two cultures, being shaped by both, but ultimately belonging fully to neither.

Whatever the case may be, I now have this question to answer, "What does it mean to teach in American Samoa in the early 21st century?" I hope to discover the answer during this technology class.